Not All Treasures Come in Packages
by Mesita
Summary: Kevin helps Double D with a Christmas Treasure Hunt but what they find at the end isn't at all what Kevin expected.


**NOTES**:

Written for 'izzythesailor' on tumblr (although their url changed I think three times while I wrote this because I took FOREVER) This is super duper late for the KevEdd Secret Santa but it's my own fault for trying to write something during the hell that is Christmas Break for adults (ie: we don't get one).

I hope you enjoy this, Izzy! You asked for something fluffy and fluff to me generally means cavity inducing butterfly feelings. Hooray!

* * *

Christmas Eve at Kevin's household was relatively normal. He had a few relatives over for a Christmas Eve dinner and his parents allowed each of the children to open one present. Kevin longed to open the rest of the presents tagged with his name that sat under the Christmas tree. They taunted him with their sheer number. Being an only child rocked.

It wasn't until it was nearly Christmas itself when all his relatives finally left. Kevin helped his parents clean up while giving forth minimal effort, but his eyes would immediately latch onto the Christmas tree. He knew if he was left alone for more than a second, he would make an attempt to open every last present as carefully as possible. Surely his parents would know that self-control would not get better with age? Being a teenager in no way granted him with a sudden bout of patience.

It seemed like forever until his parents went to bed. His mother casually turned off all the lights in the house, leaving only the Christmas lights outside lit up as well as the tree in the living room. Just before she retired to her bedroom, she gave her son a quick kiss on the forehead and warned him not to stay up too late or Santa wouldn't come. Kevin hastily shook off his mother's nonsense words. His presents were already under the tree. Santa probably stopped giving gifts the moment he entered High School. He wasn't sure how such things worked, anyway.

Kevin sat haphazardly on the couch playing a video game and surrounded by Christmas cookies from his aunt. They were terrible, gluten-free, sugar free and lactose free cookies that tasted like cardboard but they helped pass the time between loading screens. In order to keep the noise level down, Kevin made sure to drown out the sound with his headset—but the downside was that his eyes became super sensitive to movement outside of his television screen range.

He hadn't even been playing for an hour before he swore a shining light moved across the wall. Thinking it was just a passing car, Kevin attempted to shrug it off but when the light returned a few seconds later, he took off his headset and turned toward the large living room window to see what was up.

Despite the weather being incredibly cold, snow hadn't yet fallen on Peach Creek, which was just as well. Kevin's visibility stretched further.

The flash of light shone directly toward his house once more and that time, Kevin could pinpoint it with better precision. The light was too small for a passing car and far too erratic. The constant motion clearly gave it away as a flashlight and it was coming from the house a little ways across the street from his own: Double D's.

Kevin's first thought was that someone was trying to break into Double D's house, his second thought was that if anything, it was probably one of Double D's two best friends, Ed or Eddy. Kevin had a weakness for wanting to know what the three Eds were up to so he allowed his curiosity to get the better of him. Carefully, Kevin pulled on his shoes and socks and bundled himself up in his coat and scarf before heading outside to see just what kind of nonsense he'd witness.

Long ago the cul-de-sac had settled its differences with the Eds. After the group's realization that Eddy's obscure behavior stemmed from an incredibly douchebag-like older brother, everyone saw the Eds differently. Sure, the transition hadn't exactly gone smoothly, and there were a few kinks to work out, but Kevin liked to think everyone had matured over the years.

Or at least a little bit.

Maturity apparently meant that it wasn't Ed or Eddy who was trying to break into Double D's house, but instead Double D himself. He paced the front of his house while handling a flashlight with a failing battery. The reason Kevin had seen the light look so erratic was because Double D had to constantly slap the end of the flashlight against a gloved hand to get it to work.

For a moment Kevin thought about sneaking up on Double D and scaring him, but at the last moment, he thought against it. Whatever crazy reason Double D had for being outside on the night before Christmas had to be a good one, and Kevin's curiosity far outweighed his need for a good laugh.

"Hey," Kevin called across the cold night air. Double D's flashlight paused in its even sweep of his own front lawn. "Whatcha doin'?"

Immediately, Double D's flashlight clicked off, leaving only the street lamps and the moon to illuminate the street. "Kevin! I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"Nah." Kevin waved it off, but he continued to head across the street toward Double D's house. "I was already up. You lookin' for Santa or somethin'?"

Double D looked down at the flashlight in his hands and back to his house before giving Kevin a sheepish grin. "It certainly looks as though I am, but I can assure you, I still have my doubts about Santa Claus."

Despite the fact that they'd all witnessed Santa's gift-giving habits first-hand, Kevin held his hands up in the air and laughed. "Better watch what you say, Double Dweeb. You might ruin some kid's Christmas." Old habits died hard and apparently Kevin's condescending nickname hadn't yet passed on. Double D didn't seem to mind. It probably rolled off him by that point.

"Ed believes enough for the rest of the town. Besides, I am certain any child within hearing range currently has the vision of sugar plums dancing in their heads, or so the poem goes. No, I am undergoing a much more exciting endeavor. A hunt, if you will."

"At midnight on Christmas Eve?"

"I wanted to wait until everyone's lights were off and all the parties were over," Double D explained.

"Ah," Kevin said, understanding. "All those annoying relatives were over at your place, too, trashing it and everything?"

Double D shook his head. "Not entirely. My parents were called out of town for a business trip last night. I spent the evening catching up on next semester's reading."

"Wait, what?" Kevin said, confused. He'd made it to Double D's lawn by then so he could at least make out Double D's features in the artificial light of the night. Double D didn't even look perturbed. Shouldn't he be the least bit agitated that he was alone for Christmas? "That's got to be the worst thing a parent could do to a kid on Christmas."

"That is stretching the truth a bit, Kevin. There are far worse things a parent could do." Double D shrugged a bit and turned his flashlight back on in the process, probably to try and resume his hunt. "I'm used to being alone, and it's not like I have nothing to do. My parents left me a Christmas present. Look." Instead of shining the flashlight on the ground, Double D pulled a folded up piece of paper from his pocket and shined the failing light on the message.

Kevin moved to stand beside Double D so he could see. "They gave you a piece of paper?"

"The Post does not arrive on Christmas. My parents must have timed this perfectly so that I would receive this note Christmas Eve," Double D explained. When Kevin saw the care that went into the note, he relaxed a little bit. It wasn't up to him to care whether Double D's parents loved him or not, but they must have cared enough to send him a letter for Christmas which oddly made Kevin feel better.

"Let me see that," Kevin demanded as he took the note from Double D's gloved hands. It was a riddle, written in a clever rhyme that indicated they would either find another clue or perhaps Double D's Christmas gift at the end of the hunt. "Your parents left you a treasure hunt for Christmas? That's kind of awesome, Double Dweeb."

"Isn't it?" Double D said happily, once again clearly ignoring Kevin's not-so-insulting-insult. "You know," Double D continued, "I was thinking of waking up Ed and Eddy to help me with the search. It could be a fun experience!"

Kevin couldn't help but cringe at the mention of the other two. It wasn't a voluntary cringe, but it was no secret that it was easier for him to get along with Double D than with Ed or Eddy. Eddy wouldn't be so bad if he stopped trying to pull off scams, and Ed was too much of a Wild Card. It was so much easier for Kevin to stick with the likes of Rolf and Nazz, even when everyone hung out together in a group, but he never passed up an opportunity to at least spend time with the smartest of the Ed trio. Besides, he kind of wanted to see what the treasure hunt had in store. "It's late, isn't it? They're both probably already asleep and waiting for Santa or whatever."

"Perhaps you are correct, Kevin. Although, Ed does have a tendency to stay up until the early hours of the morning waiting to see if he could catch Santa in the act, and Eddy never gets tired of watching him and hoping he'll get gifts at both houses. I really feel like this would make their time go by much faster." Double D already began to fold the paper gift from his parents and place it in his pocket, as if he'd already made up his mind.

Kevin's curiosity got the better of him and before he knew it, he'd jumped in front of Double D, arms outstretched. "Come on, man. It'll be much faster with just the two of us. We don't need those two to slow us down." He liked to think he was trying to avoid hanging out with Ed and Eddy, rather than begging to be alone with Double D, with the latter probably closer to the truth.

Double D placed a hand on his chin in quiet contemplation and finally gave Kevin a look he didn't quite understand before finally giving in. "Alright, Kevin. It'll be just you and me, then."

"Choice!" Kevin grinned.

"Indeed." Double D returned the grin in such a way that made Kevin feel victorious in more ways than one. It was a strange feeling, but he wrote it off as being excited for the end of the treasure hunt. "Now, do you have an idea where we should look first? Based on the first and third lines in the poem, I assumed the first clue would be outside in the shrubbery surrounding the house, but it appears as though finding the paper at night is more difficult than I thought."

"Well that's your problem right there. You're just lazily flopping your flashlight around without really /_looking_./ Watch." Kevin took the flashlight from Double D, crawled down on his hands and knees in front of the shrubs surrounding Double D's home and after a bit of trouble with the light, finally found what he was looking for: a small envelope which had been cleverly disguised in a forest green to blend in with the bushes. He had to crouch at an odd angle to retrieve the envelope, but it was clear that one could not see the envelope merely by looking at the bushes.

"Ah," Double D's sheepish tone sounded from behind Kevin the moment he held up the envelope. "It appears I may have missed the obvious."

"Clearly," Kevin said, not bothering to mask his sarcasm. "Don't your parents know you enough to make this hard for you?"

Double D shrugged. "They know I have a tendency to overthink the problems presented to me. Perhaps they made the answers obvious on purpose to throw me off."

"Then it's a good thing I'm here," Kevin said with a grin.

"Yes," Double D returned the smile. "Indeed." He then reached out a hand to help Kevin up. For a moment, Kevin thought about rejecting the hand. It wasn't like he needed it or anything, but he knew in an instant that it was much more than Double D giving him a hand up. It was more of an official declaration that they were partners in this hunt.

With a smirk, Kevin finally took Double D's hand. Even though Double D's gloves acted as a barrier between the two of them, Kevin could feel the warmth spread to his fingertips. "This means I get half of the loot, right?"

Double D giggled in the reserved way he had. "That all depends on if the end result can be shared. We will have to find out."

"Then come on and open the envelope, already!"

As it turned out, opening an envelope with gloved hands proved to be difficult for Double D. He refused to take the offending things off, so Kevin did the honors of opening the envelope. An identical piece of stationary was used to write yet another poem, but Kevin didn't mind. He would have been a bit disappointed if the hunt had ended there.

This particular poem sent the two of them to the backyard where Kevin had to hoist Double D up into the branches of a tree to find the next clue. Double D was surprisingly light for his age. Kevin was taken aback, mostly because the smarter boy had been wearing a much larger rendition of his puffy orange coat. Kevin automatically assumed it would add several pounds to Double D's weight, but it did not.

The most awkward bit of the situation happened just after Kevin suggested he kneel down and clasp his hands together so that Double D could step onto Kevin's hands and be lifted into the air. The idea sounded plausible in his head, but it wasn't until they executed it that Kevin realized the mistake he'd made. When Double D stepped up, he'd been facing Kevin so that when he stood up fully, Kevin's found himself at eye level with Double D's thighs—something he'd never thought he'd face.

It wasn't that it was a disgusting position to find himself in; he was more embarrassed than anything. Kevin forced himself to look to the side just so he could close his eyes and pretend he was doing anything else but having his head close to Double D's crotch. The treasure had better be worth it, he thought.

It didn't take long for Double D to locate the envelope and Kevin was more than happy to relinquish role as a stepping stool. Double D hopped down and once again offered to help Kevin up, but at that point he was too embarrassed to take the outstretched hand and he instead got up on his own, wiping his own hands on the seat of his pants.

The third clue took them to the garage, and the forth brought them back inside. Once inside, Double D's parents had them pinging back and forth throughout nearly every room in the entire house.

It wasn't until they'd passed the large clock in the living room for the twelfth time that Kevin finally realized how late it was. Somehow, the two of them had been hunting around for clues for nearly three hours—but it hadn't even felt that long! And yet, he worried that it would be his luck for his parents to wake up and realize he'd left the television on and be nowhere in sight.

Just as Kevin was about to call it quits to head back home, the two of them went back to the garage once more and there Double D paused.

"I'm not sure this is the right place, Kevin," he muttered, glaring hard at the poem in front of him.

"Sure it's the right place," Kevin reassured him. He snatched the poem from Double D's hand just as easily as he'd been doing the entire night and began to read the poem out loud. "'Look for the lair where your father once tread; a thousand unfinished projects all left for dead. A birdhouse, a clock, both placed in a stall. Pretend for a moment he finished them all.' See? It's all the leftover do-it-yourself stuff he never finished. Where else but the garage, right?"

"Yes, but we've already found a clue here. Why would we be taken to the same place twice?"

"You don't think they're just messing with you now, do you? Because it's like three in the morning and I should probably go home." The words were out of Kevin's mouth before he could stop them, but he knew the second he said them that he didn't want them to be true. He wanted to see this thing to the end and not just because of his own curiosity—but also because the moment he said he probably needed to leave, Double D's face fell, like maybe it was Kevin's fault his Christmas was ruined. The look of rejection on his face said everything and Kevin quickly took back his words. "But that could also mean that we've come full circle or something, right? Maybe there was something we overlooked."

Kevin's backtracking remained unregistered on Double D's radar. He was instead focused entirely on Kevin. "I am so sorry," he began, "I became so caught up in the thrill of the game, I became unaware of time. You could get into trouble on my account and here I am, selfishly keeping you here."

"Hey," Kevin said, lifted a hand in defense. "If I wanted to leave, I could have left out there in the yard. I'm having fun, too, okay? Let's finish this thing. You promised me half, remember?"

"I said it depends on the end result," Double D pointed out, but he seemed to have cheered up a little bit because he turned back to the poem. "In that case, what do you think the poem means? It doesn't necessarily give a location."

"Unless you count the stall, right? But I doubt you have a bathroom stall in your garage, unless your dad is really weird," Kevin joked.

"A birdhouse and a clock…" Double D read slowly, glaring at his paper like maybe that would help him understand it better. "I don't remember him finishing either of those."

"You're supposed to pretend he did," Kevin said. "Not sure why, but I guess… just pretend he finished them. Then what?"

"Then they would become a cuckoo clock, I suppose."

"Did your parents get you a cuckoo clock for Christmas? That's lame," Kevin muttered, frowning. How was he supposed to get half the loot of a cuckoo clock?

Double D smiled sadly and shook his head. "Not likely, although the wind-up mechanics of a cuckoo clock is actually quite fascinating, as is the general craftsmanship and woodworking. I would not be disappointed if that were the case."

"You sure look disappointed to me."

"Because I feel as though I have solved the riddle."

"Yeah? So why the long face?"

Double D didn't say anything. He instead pushed himself past Kevin and opened up one of the sliding compartments in his father's abandoned workbench. Sitting inside on the shelf, next to a half-finished birdhouse and some clockwork gears sat a very large and very lavishly wrapped gift.

"Oh sweet!" Kevin exclaimed, closing the gap between him and Double D, just so he could get a better look. "That's way too big to be a cuckoo clock, dude. Get it out! Let's see!"

Double D retrieved the Christmas Gift from the cabinet and with some help from Kevin, lofted the heavy box up onto the workbench. Double D's facial features hadn't quite changed from his perplexed look, which Kevin found odd. They'd found the treasure—so why was Double D upset about it?

"Go on," Kevin coaxed him. "Open it."

Without the puffy orange coat and gloves, Double D looked like a completely different person in the dim orange light. Kevin didn't know if the other boy was just tired or upset that the hunt was finally at an end. Either way, he should have been excited, but he wasn't. For some reason, Kevin felt he needed to be excited for the both of them.

After Double D spent a good couple of seconds trying to carefully remove a piece of tape without harming the wrapping paper, Kevin's patience grew so thin, he easily snapped and reached forward to help unwrap. "It's paper that's meant to be thrown away," Kevin argued, "Just rip it already, dude."

With Kevin's help, the paper finally gave way to reveal a very expensive looking microscope set. Kevin's microscope knowledge didn't extend much past the microscopes they used in school, but even he could tell this far surpassed anything he'd ever seen. "Huh," Kevin said offhandedly, "Not really my thing, but I could see where they were going with it. Nice."

"Yes," Double D finally spoke up after having been quiet for so long. He examined the outside of the box with his usual amount of concentration, complete with his hand resting precariously on his chin. "But it appears to have been tampered with."

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "What, like it's been opened or something?"

"Precisely." Double D tugged at a piece of fresh tape across the top of the microscope box that Kevin otherwise wouldn't have noticed, himself. The top gave way easily and Double D leaned forward to look inside. Curious, Kevin followed suit and found himself side-by-side with Double D, faces mere centimeters apart as they peered inside the box.

The microscope itself was safely nestled inside an ornate case that should have been used in a mafia movie to carry an obscene amount of cash, but sitting on top of the case was a small tin of Peppermint Hot Cocoa and a note written on the same stationary as the clues.

"What's it say?" Kevin asked, just as Double D removed the contents of the box that were not directly related to the microscope.

As Double D read the letter to himself quietly, Kevin watched his face for clues. The empty, almost sad look that had been etched across his face over the past few moments slowly disappeared and was replaced with the tiniest hint of a smile.

"Kevin," Double D said so suddenly, Kevin jumped and looked away, having thought he'd been caught staring. "I promised you a share of the gift, did I not? Would you care to join me in a cup of hot cocoa?"

"Well, yeah," Kevin said immediately and without hesitation. Not only was he hungry, but the tromping around in the cold earlier almost required some form of hot cocoa to be consumed afterward. He completely forgot about wanting to get home at such a late hour. "But what did the note say?"

"Oh the usual." Double D shrugged. "Just wishing me a Merry Christmas and hoping the Cocoa would cheer me up. I think they assumed I would be going on the hunt with my friends, because they've left a small greeting for Ed and Eddy."

Kevin couldn't help but feel a little sheepish for having convinced Double D to leave his friends alone for the night to hang out with him, instead. It had been a nice change of pace, though. Rolf always had such strange Christmas traditions and Nazz always made sure she had a prompt bedtime ritual complete with weird face masks. He couldn't think of a better person with whom he could have spent the evening.

"In that case, I'll have two cups," Kevin said promptly, complete with a pat to Double D's shoulder. "Let's take this inside. It's cold in your garage."

And so Kevin found himself at three thirty in the morning on Christmas, sharing some Peppermint Hot Cocoa with Double D. Double D apparently knew the best way to make hot cocoa and even added a little bit of vanilla and steamed milk. If Kevin had made it at home, he'd just microwave a cup of water for a minute and hope for the best. When Double D made hot cocoa, he turned it gourmet.

With the addition of chocolate in his system, Kevin felt more relaxed so that when he sat back in his chair after his first cup, he didn't feel awkward at all when he finally asked Double D why he seemed so upset in the garage earlier.

"Wasn't it obvious?" Double D asked between sips of hot cocoa. He took his time with his drink as opposed to Kevin who'd burned his tongue twice. "I didn't want the night to end."

Kevin couldn't hold back the laughter that escaped his lips. "We couldn't go on looking for clues forever. We have to sleep sometime."

"Yes, but you mentioned having to leave, and it dawned on me that this may have been my—" Double D paused midsentence and pursed his lips, as if maybe he didn't want to finish what he was going to say. After a quick shake of his head, he continued. "This Christmas has been one of my favorites."

Kevin's brow furrowed as he stared heavily at his empty cocoa mug. His own realization hadn't been lost on him, but it still felt strange to admit it out loud to Double D, especially since he seemed to have as much fun as Kevin. "You know, me too, actually. This was a nice change."

"Indeed," Double D agreed. He looked as though maybe he wanted to say something more, but his eyes involuntarily darted toward the clock and he suddenly stood up. "It is nearing four in the morning, Kevin. Shouldn't you be heading home?"

"Oh, shoot!" Kevin exclaimed, standing up so quickly he jostled the table a little. A quick dash to the living room allowed him to locate his coat and soon he was waiting at the door. He wanted to just grab the door handle and rush out, but Double D's silence made him pause.

When Kevin turned around, Double D had the tin of hot cocoa in his hands and a smile on his face. He'd been smiling all night, but there was something different about it this time. It was just as genuine, but felt a little more private. It sent a strange chill across Kevin's chest. "You take it," he said. "I promised you a share, remember? This is your cut." The loot terminology forced Kevin to smile in return as he took the tin from Double D.

"Thanks, man. And Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Kevin."

When Kevin finally shot out the front door and began jogging toward his home across the street, he chanced a look back to see Double D still standing at his front door, arms crossed in the cold, but just watching. Kevin grinned and gave him a small wave which Double D returned enthusiastically. By the time Kevin opened his own front door and turned around again, Double D had retreated back into his home.

Once at home, Kevin quickly turned off his game console and television, set the hot cocoa on the living room table and tiptoed to his bedroom. He hadn't realized just how tired he'd been until his head hit the pillow.

The last thought Kevin had before he drifted off to sleep was the way Double D smiled at him just before he left. The image had managed to burn itself into Kevin's memory and followed him all the way into his dreams.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-

A few hours later, the off-key singing of Christmas carols shattered the sleep Kevin so desperately wanted. With a groan, Kevin pulled his pillow over his head to drown out his mother's voice. She sang the same Christmas songs every year first thing in the morning. Of all the Christmas traditions, why did she feel the need to partake in the most annoying?

After the third round of "Deck the Halls," Kevin gave up and rolled out of bed. The sun had long since risen and threatened to practically blind him. With one hand over his face and the other in front of him to guide his way, Kevin shuffled into the living room where his father sat on the couch holding a cup of coffee.

"Merry Christmas," his father said in a tone far too cheerful for anyone. "You're not rushing for the tree. Everything okay, son?"

Kevin yawned and when he found his voice, it was scratchy and uneven. "I'm fine. The presents aren't going anywhere."

His parents laughed, but Kevin didn't feel the mirth. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep. It was so strange to think that just last night he couldn't wait to open all of his gifts, and now he'd all but lost interest in them. The strangest part was that he didn't even know /_why_/.

When Kevin sat down on the couch opposite of his father, his first instinct was to put his feet up on the coffee table, and that's when he saw the tin of hot cocoa.

Kevin frowned at it, suddenly mad that he found a cheap tin of peppermint chocolate powder to be more thoughtful and cherished than the large pile of only-child presents under his tree. He actually felt a little jealous that Double D's parents were clever enough to arrange such a wonderful Christmas hunt and all he got to do was merely stare at presents for almost a week. His parents had about as much imagination as a brick wall. He knew he was acting spoiled, but it was impossible to shake the feeling that something was definitely missing from his Christmas morning.

It wasn't until his mother came into the living room with a video camera that Kevin finally realized what he wanted to do with his Christmas.

His family seemed awfully small for just the three of them. In a sudden burst of recklessness, Kevin suddenly asked, "Hey, mom, dad, can I have a friend over to open presents?"

"You mean that foreign kid or Nazz?" his dad muttered from behind his coffee mug. "Aren't they opening presents of their own?"

"I mean Double D- er, Edd. From across the street. His parents are out of town and he's alone for Christmas."

His mother, having been fighting with the video camera to make sure it was recording, held a hand to her heart like Kevin had suddenly spouted the most heartwarming thing she'd ever heard. "Oh, Kevin, honey. That's so sweet! I knew we raised you to be courteous like this! You go get that poor boy and let him come over for Christmas lunch."

His mother's words had an immediate effect on Kevin and he jumped up like he'd just consumed three cups of coffee. In a matter of seconds, he was dressed and flying out the door toward Double D's home.

After a few good knocks on the door, Double D didn't answer, so Kevin resorted to ringing the doorbell like a madman. Finally, the doorknob turned and a very tired Double D answered the door in Christmas themed footie pajamas.

Kevin snorted in an attempt to keep his laughter in. He had to cover his mouth with both hands just to make sure the word, 'Dork' didn't escape and ruin everything. In fact, it was a little bit adorable that Double D still wore comfortable pajamas like that. It meant he was comfortable with himself, right? It still made him look ridiculous, especially now that it was clear he was blushing furiously.

"Kevin!" Double D exclaimed. "What are you doing here so early?"

"It's not that early. It's like ten or something," Kevin argued, trying not to let it show that he was fighting back tears of laughter. "Hurry and get dressed. You're coming over for Christmas lunch."

"I… what?"

"Christ-mas-luuuunch," Kevin repeated slowly, just in case Double D wasn't fully awake, yet. "I'm inviting you over, unless you'd rather stay here? Alone?"

"Well, I was planning on meeting Ed and Eddy at Ed's place in a couple of hours after Sarah's Annual Christmas rampage calmed down a little…"

Kevin folded his arms in a way that he found probably too charming for the situation. "Is that a no?"

Double D watched him with a guarded gaze and finally said. "I will be there in a few minutes." He then shut the door without so much as a goodbye, but Kevin wasn't even bothered. He made the march back to his home with a satisfied smirk.

Kevin wasn't home long before the doorbell rang. He'd somehow convinced his mother to make some cups of hot chocolate from Double D's tin and had been pacing the kitchen with her, telling her to hurry up. As soon as he heard the chime, he slid across the kitchen floor in his socked feet, practically hopped the distance to the front door and swung it wide open, ignoring the comment from his father about letting in all the cold air.

"Double D! What a surprise!" Kevin said with a grin. He stepped to the side to allow Double D in.

It took Double D a moment to cross the threshold willingly. It must have been a new experience for him to be invited over personally. Kevin began to wonder why he'd never invited Double D over like that, before. His parents loved the guy.

"Eddward!" Kevin's mother called from the kitchen. "Come into the kitchen and warm yourself up. I've made hot cocoa!"

Double D exchanged a look with Kevin who only smirked in return. That was enough for them to break the ice. Soon Double D was chatting pleasantly with Kevin's parents as if he and Kevin hung out constantly. Rather than feel embarrassed about it, Kevin silently watched Double D's interactions from afar as he sipped the peppermint hot chocolate. Having Double D over for Christmas had been a good idea after all. Somehow, it just felt right.

When it came to opening presents, Double D took turns with Kevin's mother in holding the camera, mostly so that Kevin's mother could open her own presents from Kevin and her husband. Double D somehow seamlessly integrated himself into the small household to the point that Kevin became increasingly distracted every time he opened another present. In the end, he ripped through the paper on the packages quickly just to get it over with. His mind barely registered half the presents.

For the first time in his life, Kevin had lost interest in the gift-receiving part of Christmas. He wanted more than anything to have Double D help him take his Christmas haul to his bedroom and hide out with him while his father watched the television and his mother prepared lunch.

It felt like forever before Kevin received his wish. Kevin's mother somehow convinced Double D to act as a photographer and take a few family pictures of the three of them in front of the tree wearing matching Christmas sweaters. Kevin thought about fighting it, but mostly out of embarrassment. He usually humored his parents during their annual Christmas sweater picture, but this time it was Double D behind the camera. He felt like, if anything, his reputation was at stake.

But Double D didn't laugh at him. He only smiled and helped position the family to receive optimal lighting. After a few pictures, Kevin's mother stepped forward and took the camera from Double D's grip.

"It's your turn!" she said brightly. "Go on and stand next to Kevin. I want to remember the Christmas our Kevin was selfless."

"Mom!" protested Kevin.

"Oh hush, dear. I'm proud of you. And Edd, I apologize for the lack of Christmas sweater for you. Had we known, we would have gotten you one to wear as well!"

"Thank you for the offer," Double D said with the tiniest hint of shakiness in his voice. Kevin watched as Double D's face slowly turned red in color and he smiled to himself in grim satisfaction that he wasn't the only person being embarrassed by his mother. "Had I known Kevin would invite me, I would have prepared a gift for you as well."

"Just you being here is a gift, dear!" Kevin's mother waved off Double D's manners with her abundance of annoying motherly love. She then playfully shoved Double D at Kevin so abruptly that Kevin had to reach his hands out to catch the stumbling teen before he smashed into the tree.

The resulting picture was taken before Kevin could move his hands so that it appeared as if he and Double D were standing in front of the tree with their arms around each other. The shock of the flash gave Kevin a little jump and he quickly turned on his mother. "That wasn't fair! We weren't ready!"

Kevin's mother waved the camera around. "Candid pictures are some of the best," she retorted. "Now, smile!"

-8-8-8-8-

No less than ten minutes later, Kevin and Double D found themselves sprawled across Kevin's bed as Kevin attempted to sort through his Christmas loot. After having been tortured by pictures from his mother, Kevin was more than happy to feign interest in his other Christmas presents if it meant getting away from his parents.

"I'm sorry about those two," Kevin said absent-mindedly as he tried to open up the box to a new mp3 player. "They can be a little smothering."

"I like your parents," Double D said cheerfully. He'd been sitting politely at the edge of Kevin's bed and silently moving his eyes around Kevin's room. Kevin felt like maybe Double D was trying to memorize it. He'd been staring so intently.

"Well, they seem to like you, so you've got that going for you," Kevin said with a shrug.

They fell silent after that, mostly because Kevin buried himself in trying to undo the excess amount of packaging on his mp3 player. He became so encompassed in his work that when Double D finally spoke up, he jumped a little.

"Why did you really invite me over, Kevin?"

Double D's question didn't sound accusing. It sounded private and reserved, like maybe he'd used a completely different portion of his curious nature to ask it. It sent Kevin's nerves on edge and he stopped fumbling with his Christmas present.

"You shared your Christmas with me," he said after a while, "It's only fair I share mine with you?" Kevin almost smiled to himself for coming up with such a great answer in such a short amount of time.

"I do not claim to be an expert on your personality, but it seems a little beyond you to be so giving," Double D said slowly.

Kevin narrowed his eyes. "You think I'm selfish or somethin'? And here I thought you were so smart, Double Dweeb."

"No, it's not like that!" Double D backtracked quickly. "I am aware of your generous nature with others, namely your best friends, but I do not fit into that category and am therefore baffled at your desire to spend the largest holiday with me and not… the others."

Kevin had no idea how to answer that, mostly because he had no idea what the answer was, himself. Instead, he focused on Double D's vague mention of Rolf and Nazz. He could avoid the question by turning it around! "Well, you're here instead of with Dork and Dorkzilla," Kevin said with a shrug. "You think maybe it's for the same reason?"

Double D straightened up a bit, and Kevin didn't miss that his face looked a little red. They'd been inside a long time, so it couldn't have been red from the cold. "I enjoy your company," he murmured, "I thought perhaps a closer friendship with you wouldn't be so far out of the ballpark."

The sincerity in Double D's words took Kevin by surprise. He hadn't planned on Double D being so honest about it. It actually sapped Kevin of his own desire to be as forthcoming. "Yeah, well, you're pretty cool to hang out with, I guess," he said offhandedly. "Maybe I really did just wanna pay you back for letting me go on that hunt with you, okay? Besides, everyone needs family and a big Christmas meal, right?"

Kevin hadn't thought he said anything special, but whatever words fell out of his mouth appeared to have been the correct ones. Double D's face lit up brighter than Kevin's overly obnoxious Christmas tree.

"What?" Kevin asked, suddenly horrified at the cheerful grin plastered across Double D's features.

"Oh Kevin!" Double D said in that whimsical way he had when he was fascinated at a particularly boring piece of machinery. Kevin fought the urge to back up so far off his bed he'd fall off and crash into his closet. "I do believe your heart has grown three sizes today!"

"What the—" Kevin's frustrated interjection was cut off when he realized the reference Double D made. "I'm not the Grinch! I have nothing against Christmas! I just didn't want to see you alone on today of all days, okay?" This time he really did back up on the bed until his back hit the head board.

Rather than have his words make Double D back off, they had the opposite effect. Double D's polite stature at the edge of the bed changed quickly as he twisted with an almost practiced sort of precision and before Kevin knew it, Double D's arms were wrapped tightly around his waist.

Kevin's own arms immediately went into the air, giving Double D as little surface area as possible to hug. "What're you doing?" Kevin said stupidly, knowing full well he was being hugged within an inch of his life.

Double D's gap-toothed grin was pressed against Kevin's Christmas sweater so that his words were muffled a bit, but Kevin caught all of them. "I knew underneath all that pompous Kevin attitude beat a heart of gold. The others may not have believed it, but I did."

Kevin tried not to let Double D's fond words get to him by letting out a deadpan sigh. "Let go of me."

Double D hugged him harder.

"Just get off, will ya? Or I'll make you go home."

Double D finally pulled away from Kevin, but his smile hadn't left. "I highly doubt that given the data I've just collected."

Kevin haphazardly brushed his sweater down, as if he were brushing away any evidence that Double D had a severe disregard for personal space. All the Eds did, really. "Don't make me regret being nice to you," he muttered.

Double D's smile faded a little, as if he'd finally realized he made a bad judgment move by suddenly treating Kevin the way he treated Ed and Eddy. "I hug all my friends. They don't seem to mind."

"That's because you're all weird."

When Double D quieted down and slowly began to retreat back to the polite, thumb-twiddling version of himself that positioned himself at the edge of Kevin's bed, Kevin couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He still didn't know why he'd felt so embarrassed that Double D showed some affection for him. It hadn't meant anything deeper, right? He'd only been excited that Kevin cared so much. Rolf scored much, much higher on the weird person scale than Double D. Kevin could handle a little hug—granted it wasn't as rib-crushing as the first one. Double D no doubt picked up some habits from Ed over the years.

"Perhaps I had the wrong impression about you after all," Double D murmured.

Kevin let out a defeated sigh. "Fine. It's Christmas, after all. We'll just say it's my present to you, okay? Then we're even."

Maybe it was the way Double D perked up a little when Kevin gave in, or maybe it was the way he waited patiently for Kevin to remove himself from the head of the bed and come to him. Either way, the moment Kevin moved in for a hug, he was hit with an uncharacteristically large wave of shyness—as if he'd suddenly found himself in a moment he couldn't back out of—a moment that could probably change everything.

Before he could even backtrack and change his mind, his arms were around Double D and Double D's own arms returned the favor. Even though the hug wasn't tight or bone crushing, Kevin still felt like he couldn't breathe. He'd accidentally made the moment so intimate, he could feel Double D's heart crashing against his chest. Friends didn't hug like this. He barely hugged Nazz like this. So why wasn't either of them pulling away?

A gentle knock on Kevin's doorframe finally separated the two of them. Kevin's mother stood in the doorway with the most sugarcoated of smiles on her face. Kevin didn't have to feel the heat on his cheeks to know that he was blushing so hard he needed to bury his face in Antarctica to make it go away.

"Food's ready, you two," she said at last, the sugar from her smile dripping into her words. "Hurry while it's hot."

Double D stood up immediately and with ease, like he hadn't at all been flustered by being caught hugging another guy. "Yes, ma'am. It smells delicious."

Kevin groaned and eventually followed Double D out the door. For a moment he was afraid that he'd accidentally ruined whatever good thing he had going with Double D, but it turned out the exact opposite happened.

Dinner wasn't awkward at all. In fact, it was so normal that Kevin began to wonder if he'd hallucinated the entire last hour. Double D even helped Kevin's parents clear off the table while he watched, fascinated that someone could suck up to his parents so effortlessly. He even brushed off his parents' predictable comments that Kevin could learn a thing or two from Double D.

He probably could, but he didn't need his mom and dad to tell him that.

It wasn't until Double D excused himself to go and visit his other friends for Christmas that Kevin even realized that he didn't want him to go. He wasn't sure what he was thinking, but he'd been running on the impression that he'd get Double D to himself all day, even though logically that wasn't the case. He'd have to go and bug Nazz at some point that night, too. They both had lives outside of each other…

And yet, even as Double D moved in to give Kevin a hug goodbye, Kevin could already feel the unease and worry melt off him. Just as Kevin was about to pull back, Double D's grip around his shoulders tightened and he could feel warm breath against his ear.

"This has been my most favorite Christmas after all," Double D whispered so quietly that Kevin wasn't sure he imagined it or not. "Thank you."

Kevin swallowed hard and nodded, "Yeah. Me too."

When the separated, Double D's eyes were wide. "Really?"

"Yeah," Kevin repeated with a laugh. He had to practically shove Double D out the door before his parents started to ask questions. It felt weird to be so close to someone like that when his parents were in the next room. "Now go, okay? I'll see you tomorrow or somethin'"

Before Double D could even respond, Kevin was shutting the door on him—mostly so that he wouldn't have to look at Double D's bright smile anymore. Each and every one of Double D's smiles were identical to the private unabashed one he'd been given just before he left Double D's house that morning after their treasure hunt. Something big had changed between the two of them and Kevin could only blame Christmas for it so much.

He hadn't been lying when he told Double D that this had been his favorite Christmas. It just didn't make any sense. It wasn't the presents or food that sealed the deal, it was his dorky neighbor with the sock hat who lived across the street. When Kevin agreed to help Double D with his Christmas hunt, he hadn't expected the treasure to be in the form a gap-toothed grin and hugs that left him wanting more. He wanted money or video games or a new bike—anything but the mess of conflicted, yet warm feelings stirring in his chest.

Must have been one of those stupid Christmas miracles, he supposed.


End file.
